Ways to get Fairer Complexion!

Hey all! Been really busy lately but coping real well. So anyways, for this blog post I would really wanna share the ways of having fairer complexion. I know most girls would actually want fair skin. And I'm one of them. Don't get me wrong, females with dark skintones are actually really sexy and attractive, like Kim Kardashian, Megan Fox, Jennifer Lopez and the list goes on and on! But personally for me, dark skintone doesn't suit me at all. I look super odd when my skin was tanned. As pictured below:

Can you spot which one's me? hahaha. The one at the most right. LOL. Super tanned right! This was after I was exposed long hours under the sun wihout proper sun protection regime done. Yeah, I'm so dumb. I totally screwed up my skin. The sun is good but too much of that with all the UV rays, I think alot of cells just died :(.
Ok so throughout the months and years I desperately want to have healthy fair skin. So I did a lot of research and tried products after products to achieve the fairness. Bear in mind, if you're borned with dark skintone, it would be impossible for you to be as fair as a caucassian or whoever korean actresses or whatnot unless you bleach yourself, inject yourself with those skin whitening thingies or you paint yourself. Somehow I feel that people get the misconception that to be fairer, the products are actually peeling off layers of your skin to achieve that or like a 'bleaching' process. But it's actually the process of returning your skin colour to the original skin colour you were born with.

The following techniques would only work for people that has fair skin to start with just that because we live in Malaysia, humid and hot country with blazing sun for 365days throughout the year, eventually became darker and uneven skintone (tanned skin on the hands and legs).

So the simple ways to be fairer I have categorized it to two groups, Cure and Prevention.

Cure
Firstly is to cure your tanned skin, to heal your skin so that it would regenerate new skin cells faster hence you will get fairer quicker. The way to do it is through your daily skincare regime.

1) Whitening skincare products
Replace either one of the skincare steps to a whitening product. (Eg. Use a toner with whitening properties, the rest has no whitening purposes.) I find that if I use whitening products for all of my skincare products (Cleanser, Toner, Moisturizer) it would be too harsh on my skin. Normally I would replace my cleanser with a whitening cleanser.

2) Hydrate Skin
Most importantly remember to Moisturize your skin!!
Hydrated skin = healthy skin = Fast cell regeneration = Faster fairer skin.
So use a moisturizer that really hydrates your skin. Gel or cream, make sure you pick the right one, cause I had an epic problem with cream moisturizers, so yea, some people might break out after using cream moisturizers and some would find that gel is too drying for their skin. So yea. It differs from one to another. 

4) Whitening Serum
So if your skincare regime is set, as in you must use these certain basic products, maybe you can add in a step instead of replacing - Whitening serum. They work great! Hada Labo offers a great range of whitening products, do check it out!

5) Exfoliate!

Exfoliating would remove the dead skin cells (The main cause of dull skin tone) on your face. It encourages cell regeneration and takes away the dullness almost instantly! I use St. Ives Apricot Scrub. Works great and I like coarse exfoliants! If you have dry skin, you might wanna use mild exfoliators (Dermalogica Daily Exfoliator is really nice!)

Okay, now we're done with the skincare, it's time for your dietary!
6) DRINK alot of WATER!
And eat food like celery, green veges and fruits that has high anti-oxidant properties. Just keep your body healthy so it would work perfectly, hence again, cell regeneration would be faster. Yeah, it's all about cell regeneration!

7) Whitening Body Products
Not forgetting our body, for me I used all whitening soap and lotion. For this I did a lot of research cause the body is the hardest part to get fair because of the constant exposure to the sun (driving, walking, sitting next to the window, etc.).

So I found out that there's this soap called LIKAS papaya soap which is great at whitening the skin. But it can only be purchased in the Philipines. Thank God my mother always travels to the Phillipines so I managed to get my hands on it. This soap is A.w.e.s.o.m.e! You can google to find reviews online :).
Like seriously, my skin got so much fairer after using it for 1month. The single bar lasted me for 3 months so I guess it's worth the price (Around RM10)! Screw those super expensive whitening body shampoo and lotions! hahaha.

So anyways, since it's a soap, it will be drying, so I topped it off with Vaseline's Whitening lotion. I love this lotion! Not sticky and greasy at all! It absorbs to the skin like straight away. and the scent is lovely. *thumbs up* So yeah, maybe you guys would wanna check it out. Oh if you want the soap, I have tons of it at home, cause I stocked it up like a lot. If you wanna try it, then do tell me alright, I can sell it to you. :) Sorry that I can't just give away because it's quite costly for a soap if I give it out to everyone.

Okay, now let's talk about Prevention. This is the step that you need to continue doing it, FOREVER! Hahaha, if you wanna maintain having fair skin that is. The Cure steps are only when you are tanned and if you have already turned to the fairness you want, you can just skip the cure step and only go for prevention steps. Get it? Hehe alright. This step is to give your skin time to heal itself daily, let it resume itself to it's original skintone and prevent furthur damage done to the skin by UV rays and what not.

Prevention is easy, all you have to do is
1) Stay away from the sun.
This sounds really ridiculous but what I did was, for example, if I wanna walk from a building to another, first I would aim for a shady spot, then get prepared, head on dashing towards the shade and then rest, then the cycle just goes on and on for the whole journey there until I reach the building. It works :) HAHA Another way, which is less stupid, is to use an umbrella. But i really dislike carrying an umbrella wherever I go so yeah.

2) Use sunscreens!
Preferrable SPF30+++ Not lower than that nor higher. I read that sunscreen that has SPF above 30 it would do damge to your pores, as in clog the pores. Normal sunscreen will already clog your pores if you don't use makeup remover to remove it everynight before you sleep, but high SPF would clog your pores even more and even make you break out. So yeah. Remember to remove the sunscreen before you sleep everyone! Well apparently I'm allergic to sunscreens. I tried Biore's milk sunscreen, Neutrogena's Daily Sunscreen and they all broke me out. So I don't use sunscreens daily unless I'm going to the beach, or I know I will be out in the sun for an event or something, then I will use them. If not, I will just stick to hiding away from the sun. Works okay for me. haha!

3) Drink a lot of water and stay healthy!
Remember, cell regeneration is super important!

7 months after following the regime.

Okay so that's all to share! That's how I turned fairer. I did become fairer after 1 month of this routine, but to be honest it took me 2 years to actually become this stage of fairness (4 shades lighter than the photo of me above) I'm currently a MAC NC15/NW20 not sure which one cause I have foundations in both shades, still I think I am not fair enough :( Cause of the uneven skintones on my body so I know I can still be fairer. *fingers crossed* But it's good enough I guess! It takes time for your body to heal itself so just be patient alright!! :)

So Yeah, I hope this helped out y'all!

And this is a photo I took outside of my balcony. When I saw this sight I was in shock! Had to run to get my camera and shoot it quickly. It only lasted for 5mins? Not sure, but a really really short time. Then the rays slowly faded away and the sun had set. God IS AMAZING!!! Only He can create such beautiful things.
God bless you!